Henderson Collegiate senior earns QuestBridge scholarship

Feb. 8—HENDERSON

Observe Henderson Collegiate's latest QuestBridge College Prep Scholarship recipient Jason Dominguez, and you'll learn a lot, without needing to hear The Pride of 2023 senior use many words.

The collegiate vocabulary reference sheet Dominguez has been keeping in his binder since eighth-grade English class does some of the talking. So does the jacket Jason sports in the photo documenting his visit to Boston College, where he'll be studying economics and finance on a full ride — The "H" and blue-and-white colors represent Honduras, where his mother Nora Hernandez was born and raised. The jacket also nods to Henderson Collegiate's last four QuestBridge scholarship recipients being Hispanic/Latinx students.

And the video capturing the moment Jason learned he matched with Boston College for the prestigious honor offers insight into not only how much the scholarship meant to Jason, but to his family, including his brother Antonio, a Henderson Collegiate fifth grader who exuberantly celebrated the news.

"The whole school felt like we were there with him," said Henderson Collegiate High School Principal Taro Shigenobu. "We felt that same level of excitement of just four years of hard work culminating in exactly what he wanted and what he deserves."

On trend

QuestBridge is a nonprofit that partners with 45 of the country's top-ranked colleges to identify and support students who otherwise might not apply to leading colleges. In 2022, a total of 5,613 students were selected as National College Match Finalists from more than 17,900 applications through QuestBridge.

Jason is the fifth Henderson Collegiate student to receive a QuestBridge scholarship in as many years, following the likes of Victor Clifton, Angel Celestino, Emily Garcia, and Ariadna Cruz.

As a freshman, Jason recalls watching Celestino announce his match with the University of Chicago, and drawing inspiration.

"I saw a trend of Hispanic students matching," Jason said. "I was like, 'Oh, let me be a part of that trend... a full ride to a top college. I want to do that someday.' And I'm sitting here now as a senior matched to a college."

Last year, 36% of QuestBridge scholarship recipients were Hispanic/Latinx and 78% overall were the first in their families to enroll in a four-year college.

Jason fits both of those bills. He grew up in Raleigh and his mother Nora moved from the industrial center of Honduras — San Pedro Sula — at age 17 before meeting future husband Antonio Dominguez, of Mexico, while the two worked at a McDonald's on Millbrook Road in North Carolina's capital city.

Jason's AP Spanish teacher at Henderson Collegiate, Claudia Cortes, said she encourages her Latino students not to accept the status quo.

"Don't get so comfortable with the basic things they can do, [like] just focus on working [a job]," said Cortes, a native of Cali, Colombia. "I always encourage them to at least graduate and have college as a second option in case something happens in their future — they can have a high school diploma and apply to a college or community college."

Jason figures had he not enrolled at Henderson Collegiate, he might be looking at working a regular 9-to-5 job, or perhaps attending community college. Instead, he earned a scholarship to one of the nation's elite academic institutions.

It's a story his mother Nora couldn't have dreamed for herself, having departed Honduras with a sixth-grade education and learning English only upon her arrival to the U.S., honing her skills by taking classes at Wake Tech.

"I thank the Lord first because without him, we cannot do anything," Nora said. "But I thank [Henderson Collegiate cofounder Eric Sanchez] because he decided in his heart to be helping this community. If you want to be something, then somebody has to be pushing behind you. You cannot do it by yourself. Jason cannot do it by himself."

Full support

Nora doesn't give thanks lightly. This family immerses itself in prayer. They prayed while Jason stayed up into the night submitting his QuestBridge application, with the help of Theresa O'Donnell, Henderson Collegiate's college and career success professional. They prayed another 30 minutes after it was submitted. On the Boston College trip to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Nora prayed that her son will have "the right people" around him in college, that he won't deviate from the young man he has already become.

Emily Cirino, Henderson Collegiate's high school dean of curriculum and instruction, has witnessed Jason's growth, from freshman to senior.

He's the kind of student that calls Ms. Cortes on weekends to get instruction, or revises each one of his writing assignments in Janet Jolly's AP English Literature class in order to earn a perfect score.

But what really stands out, the staff says, is his character.

"I think Jason is a special kid because of the young man that he is, beyond his academic prowess, which is also incredible," Cirino said. "... I watch him walk into the building almost every day with his younger brother and it's just so clear that he is the protector and he is the role model and he loves his brother, and his duty and obligation is not only to take care of him on the day to day, but to show him what's possible."

Before going their separate ways each day for school, Jason tells little brother Antonio in Spanish to be on his best behavior.

Their mother said she accepts her own academic limitations, as far as knowing the steps to take to pursue a four-year college education. That meant she and her husband needed to have the foresight to trust the Henderson Collegiate staff to guide their children.

Jason initially struggled after joining the school as a seventh grader, but after a year's time, saw his state testing scores improve exponentially.

Antonio has been a Henderson Collegiate student since kindergarten and already knows he wants to follow in Jason's footsteps. Maybe it won't be Boston College, Antonio said, but another college, perhaps to study engineering.

"Just do your homework and listen to your teachers," Nora tells Antonio. "And you're going to be there too."

"I was pushed to my limits," Jason said. "I was taught to do hard work. I pushed myself with the teachers' support and parents' support and students' support. And I made it happen."